Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 11:47:36 +1300
From: Philip Ferguson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: 'revolution' down under
In the eighteen months since it began, 'revolution' magazine has become
established as NZ's leading Marxist publication. The magazine now has
subscribers around the country from Whangarei to Dunedin, and even in
smaller centres such as Westport and Blenheim. It is sold in bookshops in
Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
It has been covered on the Kim Hill Show - a 20-minute interview - and in
the 'National Business Review', where Simon Carr said he had never seen such
an interesting left-wing journal.
The magazine has even gained subscribers across the USA from San Francisco
to Washington DC, as well as in Ireland, the Netherlands, Britain and
Australia.
For those who might not have seen the magazine, it essentially aims to
develop analyses of contemporary social, political, economic, scientific
and cultural trends. Unlike the shoddy publications of the existing
'left', with their wooden diatribes and rehashed slogans from the 1930s,
'revolution' is a publication of and for today. It aims to develop the
kind of politics needed for social transformation and human liberation now.
The magazine grew out of the Canterbury University Marxist Society and its
'Capital' study group. In particular, as we looked around at the existing
left in NZ, we were appalled by the low level of political consciousness
and education, and the apparent ignorance of even basic Marxism - Marx's
critique of political economy, Marx's theory of ideology and so on are
barely known on the left here - and at the outdated rhetoric of left
publications. It was time, we decided, for some creative application of
Marxism to the world today.
The current issue of the magazine includes the following contents:
p1/Cover montage of Ireland
p2/Contents and credits
p3/Frontlines: the dockers defeat in Australia; what's behind the attacks on
the fire service
p4/Editorial: signs of the times
p5/Letters from around the country
p6-8: 'Papering over the gaps': Philip Ferguson looks at the Te Puni Kokiri
report and suggests that more integration and less invention of
'racial/cultural difference' is needed
p9-11: "Do you need protection?" Using Marx's work on free trade as a
starting point, John Edmundson questions the left's opposition to MAI and
argues that kiwi nationalism operates against workers' interests
p12-13: Restatement: This is a regular feature which looks at key concepts
of Marxism, from exploitation to the state to the falling rate of profit,
to class consciousness to the importance of the productive/unproductive
labour division. In this issue Sharon Jones looks at women's labour under
capitalism
p14-18: "Ireland's Peace of the Grave": former full-time Sinn Fein
organiser Philip Ferguson looks at the dismal end to the national
liberation struggle in Ireland and how this came about
p19-20: "Demonising Pauline Hanson": Phil Duncan argues that Pauline Hanson
is no big deal
p21-23: "The 'natural' limits"? James Heartfield asks why radical
sociologists are pandering to environmentalist irrationalism
p24-27:"In search of a new world order": Adam Burgess, author of 'Divided
Europe' (Pluto, 1997), looks at the West's attempts to cohere a new world
order since the collpase of the Soviet bloc
p27: details of 'From Marx to Moral Panics' being run by editorial
collective members as part of the fourth term programme of Canterbury
University's Centre for Continuing Education.
p28-30: Reviews: Huw Jarvis on Michael Laws' 'The Demon Profession' and
Andrew Welch on Simon Carr's 'The Dark Art of Politics'
p31-35: Living: Grant Cronin on Smith and Dylan; Wanda Rinnands on the
Manic Street Preachers; Andrew Welch on 'Godzilla' and 'Deep Impact'
p36: Backtalk: Ann Bradley gets a grip on the debate over the president's penis
Issue #8 will be out at the end of this month and will be a bumper
48-pager, focussed on the extended essay by James Heartfield: "Need and
Desire in the 'post-material' economy". This work develops a critique of
postmodern and cultural studies theorists who have removed from view the
nature and origin of the social surplus whose unproductive consumption they
revel in.
"Need and Desire" has been described by Terry Eagleton as "an excellent and
timely intervention". It has also been described as full of "intelligence
and clarity" (Doug Henwood, author of 'Wall Street'), "a trenchant, lucid
and much-needed critique of the myths of identity politics and the
'consumer society'" (Kenan Malik, author of 'The Meaning of Race') and "a
rigourous argument for an understanding of 'production' and 'consumption'
(putting forward) a clear distinction between 'need' and 'desire'" (Donald
Morton, editor of 'The Material Queer').
revolution #8 will also look at Noam Chomsky's flawed critique, the current
state of the New Zealand economy, an Australian view on Hanson and the
reaction to her from the left, and US Marxist Joan Clarke on
Clinton/Lewinsky and what it reveals about the current state of US politics.
The 'Living' section includes sci-fi novelist and 'revolution' reader Ken
MacLeod on cultural dumbing down and Grant Cronin on the explosion of
'Real' TV.
Previous issues of 'revolution' have ranged over topics as far and wide as
'Gangsta Rap and White Fright', the nature of universities under
capitalism, a Marxist critique of Maori sovereignty, the role of the state
in NZ in building up private capital, the Russian revolution, current
trends in sci-fi writing, a major analysis of why employers were interested
in buying workers holidays, the new national museum, science and human
liberation, the ANC's Rogernomics, politics in the era of MMP, the use of
Teamwork at Fisher and Paykel and why employers use this particular work
practice as a means of increasing the rate of exploitation, globalisation,
and much, much more.
Single copies of the magazine are $4 retail. Subscription info is
available from the publisher:
Radical Media Collective, P.O. Box 513, Christchurch.
Or email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
As vilified, slandered and attacked by One Nation
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html
Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
